This amplifier features many enhancements that improve its recording capability, make the amplifier easier to use, and your experiments last longer. The Axoclamp 900A Microelectrode Amplifier provides the following modes of operation:

I-Clamp: Current clamp using two independent bridge amplifiers for voltage measurements

DCC: Discontinuous current clamp for accurate voltage measurements, even when the electrode resistance changes

Two included pipette holders of different barrel lengths accept glass pipettes in most standard dimensions

User guide written by scientific consultants, with the assistance of Axon Instruments staff, for straightforward start-up and as an in-depth reference

Basic Ion Channel Research

Ion channels are pore proteins that are involved in a large variety of physiological processes. Basic research in the ion channel field furthers the understanding of ion channel function as well as their roles within cellular pathways and processes. Single-channel research helps with elucidating the mechanisms underlying ion channel function on a single-molecule level. Whole-cell and perforated patch clamp recordings are typically used to investigate the action of modulators on entire populations of ion channels in the membrane of a cell. Learn more.

Cell Pathway Analysis

Ion channels are involved in many cell pathways and understanding the function of ion channels in response to changes in membrane potential or the presence or absence of other molecules is important in order to understand exactly how ion channels participate in normal and abnormal biological processes such as cell differentiation and migration, disease states, neuronal communications, etc. Learn more.

Disease Research

Ion channels play a role in many diseases, including hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, gastrointestinal, immune and neuromuscular disorders, pathological pain and cancer. By understanding the exact role that ion channels play in a particular disease, researchers might be able to find a way to affect the ion channel in such a way as to alter the course of the disease. Learn more.

Safety Assessment

A critical part of drug discovery involves safety assessments, such as hERG testing, in order to eliminate any compounds with potential safety concerns. Conventional patch clamp has played an important role in collecting evidence for the absence of side effects before submission of a drug candidate to regulatory authorities. Even if automated electrophysiology has shifted safety testing to earlier stages in the drug discovery process, follow-up with conventional patch clamp is an essential step in the workflow. Learn more.

Axoclamp Commander Software

Instead of the traditional front panel knobs and switches, the Axoclamp 900A Amplifier is controlled by the Axoclamp 900A Commander Software, a program that runs on a Windows PC computer (see system requirements) and communicates with the amplifier via a USB interface. This control interface reports resistance, voltage, and current measurements and provides automation of Bridge Balance, Pipette Offset, and Pipette Capacitance Neutralization for improved ease of use. In addition, Axoclamp Commander has "smart" features that protect cells from potentially damaging signal oscillations and automate mode changes based on internal signal thresholds or externally applied signals. Amplifier settings such as gain, filter frequency, recording mode, and input/output scale factors are automatically telegraphed to the pCLAMP 10 Data Acquisition Software via the USB connection. This ensures that the amplifier settings are accurately and conveniently stored in the recorded data files.

To obtain the installer for a more in-depth look at Axoclamp 900A Commander Software, please go to our Customer Support page.

In combination with a Digidata 1550B Data Acquisition System and pCLAMP Software, the Axoclamp 900A Amplifier forms the core of a recording setup like those used in many electrophysiology labs around the world. Computer control of the amplifier ensures correct scaling and logging of experimental parameters. The Clampex Data Acquisition Module in pCLAMP Software makes optimal use of the features of the Axoclamp 900A Amplifier.

SoftPanel Interface

To offer a more conventional interface to amplifier control, the optional SoftPanel was designed as a hardware extension to replicate all essential amplifier functions by acting as a hardware extension to the Axoclamp and MultiClamp Commander Software. The SoftPanel controller communicates with the computer via an easy-to-set up USB 2.0 connection. Using the SoftPanel knobs replicate continuous mouse controls ("gliders"), while buttons replicate single-click mouse controls without negating the many benefits afforded by computer control of the amplifier.

The Axoclamp 900A Amplifier is compatible with the following products.

... Isolated cardiomyocytes were placed in a bath of Tyrode solution on the stage of an IX53 (Olympus)
microscope for whole-cell patch-clamp mea- surements. APs were measured in current-clamped
my- ocytes through an Axoclamp900A amplifier (Molecular Devices). ...

... In contrast, in whole-cell mode, Alexa 594 diffused throughout the cells during the recordings.
Current- and voltage-clamp recordings were obtained with an Axoclamp900A amplifier and
digitized at 10 kHz with a Digidata 1440A interface (Molecular Devices). ...

... Currents were acquired with an Axoclamp900A amplifier and Clampex 10.2 software, and current
data were digitized at 2 kHz. Fractional change of current (F c ) at steady-state in response to
exposure to chemicals was calculated according to the equation. ...